Methods and apparatus to reduce UE capability information message size

ABSTRACT

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus for reducing user equipment (UE) capability information message size. A method for wireless communications by a UE is provided. The UE sends a first UE capability information message to a base station (BS) including a first set of UE capability information. The UE sends at least a second UE capability information message to the BS subsequent to sending the first UE capability information message including a second set of UE capability information. The second set of UE capability information does not include one or more UE capabilities included in the first set of UE capability information. The BS receives the first and second UE capability information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION & PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/586,854, filed Nov. 15, 2017, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes.

INTRODUCTION Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to techniques for reducing user equipment (UE) capability message size for certain systems, such as new radio (NR) systems.

Description of Related Art

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, etc. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple-access systems include 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Advanced (LTE-A) systems, code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, to name a few.

In some examples, a wireless multiple-access communication system may include a number of base stations (BSs), which are each capable of simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, otherwise known as user equipments (UEs). In an LTE or LTE-A network, a set of one or more base stations may define an eNodeB (eNB). In other examples (e.g., in a next generation, a new radio (NR), or 5G network), a wireless multiple access communication system may include a number of distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs), transmission reception points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with a number of central units (CUs) (e.g., central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.), where a set of one or more DUs, in communication with a CU, may define an access node (e.g., which may be referred to as a BS, 5G NB, next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), transmission reception point (TRP), etc.). A BS or DU may communicate with a set of UEs on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a BS or DU to a UE) and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to BS or DU).

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. NR (e.g., new radio or 5G) is an example of an emerging telecommunication standard. NR is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards using OFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and on the uplink (UL). To these ends, NR supports beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation.

However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in NR and LTE technology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressed by the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how the features of this disclosure provide advantages that include improved communications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to techniques for reducing user equipment (UE) capability message size.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communications by a UE. The method generally includes sending a first UE capability information message to a base station (BS) including a first set of UE capability information. The method generally includes sending at least a second UE capability information message to the BS subsequent to sending the first UE capability information message including a second set of UE capability information. The second set of UE capability information does not include one or more UE capabilities included in the first set of UE capability information.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wireless communications by a BS. The method generally includes receiving a first UE capability information message from a UE including a first set of UE capability information. The method generally includes receiving at least a second UE capability information message from the UE subsequent to receiving the first UE capability information message including a second set of UE capability information. The second set of UE capability information does not include one or more UE capabilities included in the first set of UE capability information.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for wireless communications. The apparatus generally includes means for sending a first capability information message including a first set of capability information. The apparatus generally includes means for sending at least a second capability information message subsequent to sending the first capability information message including a second set of capability information. The second set of capability information does not include one or more UE capabilities included in the first set of capability information.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for wireless communications. The apparatus generally includes means for receiving a first capability information message from another apparatus including a first set of capability information. The apparatus generally includes receiving at least a second capability information message from the other apparatus subsequent to receiving the first capability information message including a second set of capability information. The second set of capability information does not include one or more capabilities included in the first set of capability information.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for wireless communications. The apparatus generally includes at least one processor coupled with a memory and configured to send a first capability information message including a first set of capability information. The at least one processor is further configured to send a second capability information message subsequent to sending the first capability information message including a second set of capability information. The second set of capability information does not include one or more UE capabilities included in the first set of capability information.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus for wireless communications. The apparatus generally includes at least one processor coupled with a memory and configured to receive a first capability information message from another apparatus including a first set of capability information. The at least one processor is further configured to receive at least a second capability information message from the other apparatus subsequent to receiving the first capability information message including a second set of capability information. The second set of capability information does not include one or more capabilities included in the first set of capability information.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon for wireless communications. The computer readable medium generally includes code for sending a first UE capability information message to a BS including a first set of UE capability information. The computer readable medium generally includes code for sending at least a second UE capability information message to the BS subsequent to sending the first UE capability information message including a second set of UE capability information. The second set of UE capability information does not include one or more UE capabilities included in the first set of UE capability information.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon for wireless communications. The computer readable medium generally includes code for receiving a first UE capability information message from a UE including a first set of UE capability information. The computer readable medium generally includes code for receiving at least a second UE capability information message from the UE subsequent to receiving the first UE capability information message including a second set of UE capability information. The second set of UE capability information does not include one or more UE capabilities included in the first set of UE capability information.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the appended drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example telecommunications system, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example logical architecture of a distributed radio access network (RAN), in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example physical architecture of a distributed RAN, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of an example base station (BS) and user equipment (UE), in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing examples for implementing a communication protocol stack, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a frame format for a new radio (NR) system, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations performed by a UE for providing UE capability information messages having a reduced size, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations that may be performed by a BS for enquiring for and receiving UE capability information messages having a reduced size, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates protocol for a UE capability information procedure, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a call flow for a UE capability information procedure, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a communications device that may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a communications device that may include various components configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspect may be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specific recitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for operations that may be performed in NR applications (new radio access technology or 5G technology). NR may support various wireless communication services, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) targeting wide bandwidth (e.g. 80 MHz beyond), millimeter wave (mmW) targeting high carrier frequency (e.g., 27 GHz or beyond), massive MTC (mMTC) targeting non-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical targeting ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). These services may include latency and reliability requirements. These services may also have different transmission time intervals (TTI) to meet respective quality of service (QoS) requirements. In addition, these services may co-exist in the same subframe.

In certain systems (e.g., long term evolution (LTE) or NR), a user equipment (UE) performs a UE capability exchange with the network (e.g., a base station (BS)). The BS sends an inquiry to the UE for its capability information. In response to the inquiry, the UE may send its entire capability information. Subsequently, the BS may send another inquiry to the UE for capability information, or for certain capability information. Typically, the UE provides the requested capability information, and also provides all of the previously advertised capability information. Thus, the UE capability information message may be large and include much redundant UE capability information.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques that may be used for reducing the UE capability information message size, for example, for subsequent UE capability procedures, inquiries, etc. In some cases, the UE does not provide any unchanged UE capability information in the subsequent UE capability information message. The UE can provide an indication with the message, indicating that the message does not include the unchanged UE capability information.

The following description provides examples, and is not limiting of the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, the methods described may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to, or other than, the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim. The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication technologies, such as LTE, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA and other networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g. 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).

New Radio (NR) is an emerging wireless communications technology under development in conjunction with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies.

Example Wireless Communications System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network 100 in which aspects of the present disclosure may be performed. For example, the wireless communication network 100 may be a New Radio (NR) or 5G network. A user equipment (UE) 120 in the wireless communication network 100 may be configured to perform the operations 700 and/or other methods described herein and discussed in more detail below. For example, a UE 120 can send a first UE capability information message to a base station (BS) 110 in the wireless communication network 100. The UE 120 may send the first UE capability information in response to receiving an inquiry from the BS 110. The first UE capability information message may include all of the UE capability information. The UE 120 may subsequently send a second UE capability information message, which may be in response to another inquiry from the BS 110. The second UE capability information message may not include all of the capability information from the first UE capability information message. For example, the second UE capability information message may include only changed and/or requested UE capability information. The UE 120 may send an indication with the second UE capability information message indicating that the message only includes the changed UE capability information and does not include the unchanged (e.g., redundant) capability information. Thus, the second UE capability information message may be smaller in size than the first UE capability information message. The BS 110 may be configured to perform operations 800 and/or other methods described herein and discussed in more detail below. For example, the BS 110 can sends inquiries for and receive UE capability information, as described in more detail herein.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the wireless communication network 100 may include a number of base stations (BSs) 110 and other network entities. A BS may be a station that communicates with user equipments (UEs). Each BS 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a Node B (NB) and/or a NB subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term “cell” and next generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP), or transmission reception point (TRP) may be interchangeable. In some examples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile BS. In some examples, the base stations may be interconnected to one another and/or to one or more other base stations or network nodes (not shown) in wireless communication network 100 through various types of backhaul interfaces, such as a direct physical connection, a wireless connection, a virtual network, or the like using any suitable transport network.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radio access technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface, etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a subcarrier, a frequency channel, a tone, a subband, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and/or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the BSs 110 a, 110 b and 110 c may be macro BSs for the macro cells 102 a, 102 b and 102 c, respectively. The BS 110 x may be a pico BS for a pico cell 102 x. The BSs 110 y and 110 z may be femto BSs for the femto cells 102 y and 102 z, respectively. A BS may support one or multiple (e.g., three) cells.

Wireless communication network 100 may also include relay stations. A relay station is a station that receives a transmission of data and/or other information from an upstream station (e.g., a BS or a UE) and sends a transmission of the data and/or other information to a downstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be a UE that relays transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in FIG. 1, a relay station 110 r may communicate with the BS 110 a and a UE 120 r in order to facilitate communication between the BS 110 a and the UE 120 r. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay, etc.

Wireless communication network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes BSs of different types, e.g., macro BS, pico BS, femto BS, relays, etc. These different types of BSs may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and different impact on interference in the wireless communication network 100. For example, macro BS may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereas pico BS, femto BS, and relays may have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 1 Watt).

Wireless communication network 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the BSs may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the BSs may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for both synchronous and asynchronous operation.

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and provide coordination and control for these BSs. The network controller 130 may communicate with the BSs 110 via a backhaul. The BSs 110 may also communicate with one another (e.g., directly or indirectly) via wireless or wireline backhaul.

The UEs 120 (e.g., 120 x, 120 y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication network 100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, an appliance, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometric sensor/device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a video device, a satellite radio, etc.), a vehicular component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitable device that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. Some UEs may be considered machine-type communication (MTC) devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, location tags, etc., that may communicate with a BS, another device (e.g., remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node may provide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a wide area network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired or wireless communication link. Some UEs may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, which may be narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) devices.

Certain wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15 kHz and the minimum resource allocation (called a “resource block” (RB)) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal Fast Fourier Transfer (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024 or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz, respectively.

While aspects of the examples described herein may be associated with LTE technologies, aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable with other wireless communications systems, such as NR.

NR may utilize OFDM with a CP on the uplink and downlink and include support for half-duplex operation using TDD. Beamforming may be supported and beam direction may be dynamically configured. MIMO transmissions with precoding may also be supported. MIMO configurations in the DL may support up to 8 transmit antennas with multi-layer DL transmissions up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE. Multi-layer transmissions with up to 2 streams per UE may be supported. Aggregation of multiple cells may be supported with up to 8 serving cells.

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled. A scheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell. The scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinate entities. That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entities utilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity. Base stations are not the only entities that may function as a scheduling entity. In some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity and may schedule resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one or more other UEs), and the other UEs may utilize the resources scheduled by the UE for wireless communication. In some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh network example, UEs may communicate directly with one another in addition to communicating with a scheduling entity.

In FIG. 1, a solid line with double arrows indicates desired transmissions between a UE and a serving BS, which is a BS designated to serve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A finely dashed line with double arrows indicates interfering transmissions between a UE and a BS.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example logical architecture of a distributed Radio Access Network (RAN) 200, which may be implemented in the wireless communication network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. A 5G access node 206 may include an access node controller (ANC) 202. ANC 202 may be a central unit (CU) of the distributed RAN 200. The backhaul interface to the Next Generation Core Network (NG-CN) 204 may terminate at ANC 202. The backhaul interface to neighboring next generation access Nodes (NG-ANs) 210 may terminate at ANC 202. ANC 202 may include one or more TRPs 208 (e.g., cells, BSs, gNBs, etc.).

The TRPs 208 may be a distributed unit (DU). TRPs 208 may be connected to a single ANC (e.g., ANC 202) or more than one ANC (not illustrated). For example, for RAN sharing, radio as a service (RaaS), and service specific AND deployments, TRPs 208 may be connected to more than one ANC. TRPs 208 may each include one or more antenna ports. TRPs 208 may be configured to individually (e.g., dynamic selection) or jointly (e.g., joint transmission) serve traffic to a UE.

The logical architecture of distributed RAN 200 may support fronthauling solutions across different deployment types. For example, the logical architecture may be based on transmit network capabilities (e.g., bandwidth, latency, and/or jitter).

The logical architecture of distributed RAN 200 may share features and/or components with LTE. For example, next generation access node (NG-AN) 210 may support dual connectivity with NR and may share a common fronthaul for LTE and NR.

The logical architecture of distributed RAN 200 may enable cooperation between and among TRPs 208, for example, within a TRP and/or across TRPs via ANC 202. An inter-TRP interface may not be used.

Logical functions may be dynamically distributed in the logical architecture of distributed RAN 200. As will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layers may be adaptably placed at the DU (e.g., TRP 208) or CU (e.g., ANC 202).

FIG. 3 illustrates an example physical architecture of a distributed RAN 300, according to aspects of the present disclosure. A centralized core network unit (C-CU) 302 may host core network functions. C-CU 302 may be centrally deployed. C-CU 302 functionality may be offloaded (e.g., to advanced wireless services (AWS)), in an effort to handle peak capacity.

A centralized RAN unit (C-RU) 304 may host one or more ANC functions. Optionally, the C-RU 304 may host core network functions locally. The C-RU 304 may have distributed deployment. The C-RU 304 may be close to the network edge.

A DU 306 may host one or more TRPs (Edge Node (EN), an Edge Unit (EU), a Radio Head (RH), a Smart Radio Head (SRH), or the like). The DU may be located at edges of the network with radio frequency (RF) functionality.

FIG. 4 illustrates example components of BS 110 and UE 120 (as depicted in FIG. 1), which may be used to implement aspects of the present disclosure. For example, antennas 452, processors 466, 458, 464, and/or controller/processor 480 of the UE 120 and/or antennas 434, processors 420, 430, 438, and/or controller/processor 440 of the BS 110 may be used to perform the various techniques and methods described herein for reducing UE capability information overhead

At the BS 110, a transmit processor 420 may receive data from a data source 412 and control information from a controller/processor 440. The control information may be for the physical broadcast channel (PBCH), physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), physical hybrid ARQ indicator channel (PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), etc. The data may be for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), etc. The processor 420 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The processor 420 may also generate reference symbols, e.g., for the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and cell-specific reference signal (CRS). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 430 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs) 432 a through 432 t. Each modulator 432 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 432 a through 432 t may be transmitted via the antennas 434 a through 434 t, respectively.

At the UE 120, the antennas 452 a through 452 r may receive the downlink signals from the base station 110 and may provide received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 454 a through 454 r, respectively. Each demodulator 454 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 456 may obtain received symbols from all the demodulators 454 a through 454 r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 458 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 120 to a data sink 460, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor 480.

On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 464 may receive and process data (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) from a data source 462 and control information (e.g., for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) from the controller/processor 480. The transmit processor 464 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal (e.g., for the sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor 464 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 466 if applicable, further processed by the demodulators in transceivers 454 a through 454 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 110. At the BS 110, the uplink signals from the UE 120 may be received by the antennas 434, processed by the modulators 432, detected by a MIMO detector 436 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 438 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 120. The receive processor 438 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 439 and the decoded control information to the controller/processor 440.

The controllers/processors 440 and 480 may direct the operation at the BS 110 and the UE 120, respectively. The processor 440 and/or other processors and modules at the BS 110 may perform or direct the execution of processes for the techniques described herein. The memories 442 and 482 may store data and program codes for BS 110 and UE 120, respectively. A scheduler 444 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram 500 showing examples for implementing a communications protocol stack, according to aspects of the present disclosure. The illustrated communications protocol stacks may be implemented by devices operating in a wireless communication system, such as a 5G system (e.g., a system that supports uplink-based mobility). Diagram 500 illustrates a communications protocol stack including a RRC layer 510, a PDCP layer 515, a RLC layer 520, a MAC layer 525, and a PHY layer 530. In various examples, the layers of a protocol stack may be implemented as separate modules of software, portions of a processor or ASIC, portions of non-collocated devices connected by a communications link, or various combinations thereof. Collocated and non-collocated implementations may be used, for example, in a protocol stack for a network access device (e.g., ANs, CUs, and/or DUs) or a UE.

A first option 505-a shows a split implementation of a protocol stack, in which implementation of the protocol stack is split between a centralized network access device (e.g., an ANC 202 in FIG. 2) and distributed network access device (e.g., DU 208 in FIG. 2). In the first option 505-a, an RRC layer 510 and a PDCP layer 515 may be implemented by the central unit, and an RLC layer 520, a MAC layer 525, and a PHY layer 530 may be implemented by the DU. In various examples the CU and the DU may be collocated or non-collocated. The first option 505-a may be useful in a macro cell, micro cell, or pico cell deployment.

A second option 505-b shows a unified implementation of a protocol stack, in which the protocol stack is implemented in a single network access device. In the second option, RRC layer 510, PDCP layer 515, RLC layer 520, MAC layer 525, and PHY layer 530 may each be implemented by the AN. The second option 505-b may be useful in, for example, a femto cell deployment.

Regardless of whether a network access device implements part or all of a protocol stack, a UE may implement an entire protocol stack as shown in 505-c (e.g., the RRC layer 510, the PDCP layer 515, the RLC layer 520, the MAC layer 525, and the PHY layer 530).

In LTE, the basic transmission time interval (TTI) or packet duration is the 1 ms subframe. In NR, a subframe is still 1 ms, but the basic TTI is referred to as a slot. A subframe contains a variable number of slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, . . . slots) depending on the subcarrier spacing. The NR RB is 12 consecutive frequency subcarriers. NR may support a base subcarrier spacing of 15 KHz and other subcarrier spacing may be defined with respect to the base subcarrier spacing, for example, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, 240 kHz, etc. The symbol and slot lengths scale with the subcarrier spacing. The CP length also depends on the subcarrier spacing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a frame format 600 for NR. The transmission timeline for each of the downlink and uplink may be partitioned into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) and may be partitioned into 10 subframes, each of 1 ms, with indices of 0 through 9. Each subframe may include a variable number of slots depending on the subcarrier spacing. Each slot may include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 or 14 symbols) depending on the subcarrier spacing. The symbol periods in each slot may be assigned indices. A mini-slot, which may be referred to as a sub-slot structure, refers to a transmit time interval having a duration less than a slot (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols).

Each symbol in a slot may indicate a link direction (e.g., DL, UL, or flexible) for data transmission and the link direction for each subframe may be dynamically switched. The link directions may be based on the slot format. Each slot may include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL control information.

In NR, a synchronization signal (SS) block is transmitted. The SS block includes a PSS, a SSS, and a two symbol PBCH. The SS block can be transmitted in a fixed slot location, such as the symbols 0-3 as shown in FIG. 6. The PSS and SSS may be used by UEs for cell search and acquisition. The PSS may provide half-frame timing, the SS may provide the CP length and frame timing. The PSS and SSS may provide the cell identity. The PBCH carries some basic system information, such as downlink system bandwidth, timing information within radio frame, SS burst set periodicity, system frame number, etc. The SS blocks may be organized into SS bursts to support beam sweeping. Further system information such as, remaining minimum system information (RMSI), system information blocks (SIBs), other system information (OSI) can be transmitted on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certain subframes. The SS block can be transmitted up to sixty-four times, for example, with up to sixty-four different beam directions for mmW. The up to sixty-four transmissions of the SS block are referred to as the SS burst set. SS blocks in an SS burst set are transmitted in the same frequency region, while SS blocks in different SS bursts sets can be transmitted at different frequency locations.

In some circumstances, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) may communicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-world applications of such sidelink communications may include public safety, proximity services, UE-to-network relaying, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoT communications, mission-critical mesh, and/or various other suitable applications. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signal communicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to another subordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying that communication through the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even though the scheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and/or control purposes. In some examples, the sidelink signals may be communicated using a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, which typically use an unlicensed spectrum).

A UE may operate in various radio resource configurations, including a configuration associated with transmitting pilots using a dedicated set of resources (e.g., a radio resource control (RRC) dedicated state, etc.) or a configuration associated with transmitting pilots using a common set of resources (e.g., an RRC common state, etc.). When operating in the RRC dedicated state, the UE may select a dedicated set of resources for transmitting a pilot signal to a network. When operating in the RRC common state, the UE may select a common set of resources for transmitting a pilot signal to the network. In either case, a pilot signal transmitted by the UE may be received by one or more network access devices, such as an AN, or a DU, or portions thereof. Each receiving network access device may be configured to receive and measure pilot signals transmitted on the common set of resources, and also receive and measure pilot signals transmitted on dedicated sets of resources allocated to the UEs for which the network access device is a member of a monitoring set of network access devices for the UE. One or more of the receiving network access devices, or a CU to which receiving network access device(s) transmit the measurements of the pilot signals, may use the measurements to identify serving cells for the UEs, or to initiate a change of serving cell for one or more of the UEs.

Example Methods and Apparatus to Reduce UE Capability Information Message Size

In certain system, such as long term evolution (LTE) and new radio (NR) 5G technology networks, the user equipment (UE) and the network perform a UE capability procedure. For example, the base station (BS) (e.g., such as BS 110) can send an inquiry to the UE (e.g., such as UE 120) for its capability information and the UE can respond with its capability information (e.g., sent over-the-air (OTA).

The first UE capability information message can include all of the UE capability information (e.g., all capability information elements (IEs)). Some examples of UE capability information includes supported carrier aggregation (CA) bands and band combinations, feature group indicator (FGI), robust header compression (ROHC), band list, inter-RAT (radio access technology) bands, etc.

After the first capability procedure, the network can send subsequent UE capability inquiries to the UE. In some examples, the BS can send a UE capability enquiry with a request for CA fallback band combinations (e.g., the requestDiffFallbackCombList in the wireless standards). Typically, when the UE receives subsequent requests for the UE capability information, the UE will indicate the requested UE capability information along with the previously advertised capability information. For example, if the UE receives an enquiry from the BS with the request for the CA fallback band combinations, the UE sends a UE capability information message including the requested different fallback CA band combinations, along with the information from the previous UE capability information message not related to CA fallback band combinations. Thus, the UE capability information message includes redundant information that increases the message size and OTA signaling overhead.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide reduced UE capability information message size, for example, for subsequent UE capability information messages after reporting the entire UE capabilities, the UE can report only changed capabilities.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 700 for wireless communications. Operations 700 may be performed, for example, by a UE (e.g., a UE 120 in the wireless communication system 100), in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 700 may be implemented as software components that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., processor 480 of FIG. 4). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the UE in operations 700 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antennas 452 of FIG. 4). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the UE may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., the processor 480) obtaining and/or outputting signals.

The operations 700 begin, at 702, by sending a first UE capability information message to a BS including a first set of UE capability information. As shown, optionally, at 704, the UE receives a first UE capability inquiry message from the BS for the UE capability information, and the UE sends the first UE capability information message in response to the inquiry. Sending the first UE capability information message may include, at 806, sending all of the UE capability information in the first UE capability information message.

At 708, the UE sends at least a second UE capability information message to the BS subsequent to sending the first UE capability information message, including a second set of UE capability information. The second set of UE capability information does not include one or more UE capabilities provided in the first set of UE capability information. As shown in FIG. 7, optionally, at 710, the UE receives a second UE capability inquiry from the BS for UE capability information, and the second UE capability information message is sent in response to receiving the second UE capability inquiry message from the BS. The second UE capability inquiry from the BS may indicate that only changed UE capability information is requested. Sending the second UE capability information message may include, at 812, sending the requested UE capability information and/or, at 712, sending only UE capability information that is changed from the first set of UE capability information. At 714, optionally, the UE provides an indication that the second UE capability information message does not include the one or more UE capabilities provided in the first UE capability information. The indication is provided in a container with the UE capability information message.

According to certain aspects, the first and/or the second UE capability inquiry from the BS indicates what UE capability information is requested. The second inquiry may include a request for supported fallback CA band combinations (e.g., requestDiffFallbackCombList). In this case, the second UE capability information can include only the requested fallback CA band combinations.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating example operations 800 for wireless communications. Operations 800 may be performed, for example, by a BS (e.g., BS 110 in the wireless communication network 100), in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Operations 800 may be considered complementary to the UE operations 700 above. Operations 800 may be implemented as software components that are executed and run on one or more processors (e.g., processor 440 of FIG. 4). Further, the transmission and reception of signals by the BS in operations 800 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas (e.g., antennas 434 of FIG. 4). In certain aspects, the transmission and/or reception of signals by the BS may be implemented via a bus interface of one or more processors (e.g., processor 440) obtaining and/or outputting signals.

Operations 800 begin, at 802, by receiving a first UE capability information message from a UE including a first set of UE capability information. At 804, the BS receives at least a second UE capability information message from the UE subsequent to receiving the first UE capability information message, including a second set of UE capability information. The second set of UE capability information does not include one or more UE capabilities provided in the first set of UE capability information.

According to certain aspects, the UE avoids repeating unchanged capabilities in subsequent UE capability information procedures. The UE can report requested UE capability information in a new container (e.g., different than the UE capability container). For example, UE can report only different fallback CA band combinations to the BS using the container. The UE can also provide an indication in the container, that the UE not providing (e.g., skipping) unchanged UE capabilities.

According to certain aspects, the BS can indicate in the enquiry what UE capability information is requested and/or whether to provide unchanged UE capability information in response to enquiry.

FIG. 9 illustrates protocol for UE capability information procedure, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a call flow 1000 for UE capability information procedure with reduced signaling overhead, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, at 1006 the UE 1002 (e.g., such as a UE 120) may receive a first enquiry message from the BS 1004 for UE capability information. The BS 1004 can include an indication to skip supported fallback CA band combination information. At 1008, the UE 1002 can send a first UE capability information message. The first UE capability information message can include all of the UE capability information. The first UE capability information message can include a superset of CA band combinations. At 1010, the BS 1004 can send a second enquiry to the UE 1002 for UE capability information. The second enquiry can request the UE 1002 for supported fallback CA band combinations. The second enquiry can indicate to skip (not provide) unchanged UE capability information. At 1012, the UE 1002 can send the BS 1004 a second UE capability information message. The second UE capability information message can include only the supported different fallback CA band combinations. The second UE capability information message can include an indication that the unchanged UE capability information is not included (skipped). The UE can use the smaller message size for all subsequent UE capability information messages.

Aspects of the present disclosure may reduce the size of UE capability information messages. Thus, OTA message overhead may be reduced, thereby reducing processing involved in building the message from the UE to the BS, as well as reducing the size of the message from the eNB to the MME regarding the UE capabilities.

FIG. 11 illustrates a communications device 1100 that may include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations illustrated in FIG. 7. The communications device 1100 includes a processing system 1102 coupled to a transceiver 1108. The transceiver 1108 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device 1100 via an antenna 1110, such as the various signals as described herein. The processing system 1102 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communications device 1100, including processing signals received and/or to be transmitted by the communications device 1100.

The processing system 1102 includes a processor 1104 coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1112 via a bus 1106. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory 1112 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that when executed by the processor 1104, cause the processor 1004 to perform the operations illustrated in FIG. 7, or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein. In certain aspects, computer-readable medium/memory 1112 stores code 1114 for sending a first UE capability information message and code 1116 for sending a second UE capability information message. In certain aspects, the processor 1104 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1112. The processor 1104 includes circuitry 1118 for sending a first UE capability information message and circuitry 1120 for sending a second UE capability information message.

FIG. 12 illustrates a communications device 1200 that may include various components (e.g., corresponding to means-plus-function components) configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations illustrated in FIG. 8. The communications device 1200 includes a processing system 1202 coupled to a transceiver 1208. The transceiver 1208 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communications device 1200 via an antenna 1210, such as the various signals as described herein. The processing system 1202 may be configured to perform processing functions for the communications device 1200, including processing signals received and/or to be transmitted by the communications device 1200.

The processing system 1202 includes a processor 1204 coupled to a computer-readable medium/memory 1212 via a bus 1206. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory 1212 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that when executed by the processor 1204, cause the processor 1204 to perform the operations illustrated in FIG. 8, or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein. In certain aspects, computer-readable medium/memory 1212 stores code 1214 for receiving a first UE capability information message and code 1216 for receiving a second UE capability information message. In certain aspects, the processor 1204 has circuitry configured to implement the code stored in the computer-readable medium/memory 1212. The processor 1204 includes circuitry 1218 for receiving a first UE capability information message and circuitry 1220 for receiving a second UE capability information message.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions for achieving the methods. The method steps and/or actions may be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also, “determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and the like.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”

The various operations of methods described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s) and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally, where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations may have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components with similar numbering.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration may comprise a processing system in a wireless node. The processing system may be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system and the overall design constraints. The bus may link together various circuits including a processor, machine-readable media, and a bus interface. The bus interface may be used to connect a network adapter, among other things, to the processing system via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement the signal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a user terminal 120 (see FIG. 1), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality for the processing system depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer readable medium. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including the execution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storage media. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable media may include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data, and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed by the processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition, the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integrated into the processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or general register files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include, by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable media may be embodied in a computer-program product.

A software module may comprise a single instruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media. The computer-readable media may comprise a number of software modules. The software modules include instructions that, when executed by an apparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. The software modules may include a transmission module and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a hard drive when a triggering event occurs. During execution of the software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general register file for execution by the processor. When referring to the functionality of a software module below, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when executing instructions from that software module.

Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared (IR), radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media may comprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media). In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may comprise transitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal). Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may comprise a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations described herein. For example, instructions for performing the operations described herein and illustrated in FIG. 7 and/or FIG. 8.

Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other appropriate means for performing the methods and techniques described herein can be downloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or base station as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to a server to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methods described herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein can be provided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage medium such as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a user terminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods upon coupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, any other suitable technique for providing the methods and techniques described herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the precise configuration and components illustrated above. Various modifications, changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methods and apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a first UE capability inquiry message from a base station (BS), sending a first UE capability information message to the BS including a first set of UE capability information, in response to receiving the first UE capability inquiry message; receiving a second UE capability inquiry message from the BS, indicating that only changed UE capability information is requested and that capability information for supported fallback carrier aggregation band combinations is requested; and sending at least a second UE capability information message to the BS in response to receiving the second UE capability inquiry message including a second set of UE capability information, wherein the second set of UE capability information comprises only UE capabilities that are changed from the first set of UE capability information and only the requested supported fallback carrier aggregation band combinations.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set of UE capability information comprises all of the UE capabilities.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of: the first UE capability inquiry message or the second UE capability inquiry message indicates UE capabilities for which UE capability information is requested.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an indication that the second set of UE capability information does not include the one or more UE capabilities included in the first set of UE capability information.
 5. The method claim 4, wherein the indication is provided in a container with the UE capability information.
 6. A method for wireless communications by a base station (BS), comprising: sending a first user equipment (UE) capability inquiry message to a UE; receiving a first UE capability information message from the UE-including a first set of UE capability information in response to sending the first UE capability inquiry message; sending a second UE capability inquiry message to the UE, indicating that only changed UE capability information is requested and that capability information for supported fallback carrier aggregation band combinations is requested; and receiving at least a second UE capability information message from the UE in response to sending the second UE capability inquiry message including a second set of UE capability information, wherein the second set of UE capability information comprises only UE capabilities that are changed from the first set of UE capability information and only the requested supported fallback carrier aggregation band combinations.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first set of UE capability information comprises all of the UE capabilities.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one of: the first UE capability inquiry message or the second UE capability inquiry message indicates UE capabilities for which UE capability information is requested.
 9. The method of claim 6, further comprising receiving an indication that the second set of UE capability information does not include the one or more UE capabilities included in the first set of UE capability information.
 10. The method claim 9, wherein the indication is received in a container with the UE capability information.
 11. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising: means for receiving a first user equipment (UE) capability inquiry message from a base station (BS), means for sending a first capability information message including a first set of capability information, in response to receiving the first UE capability inquiry message from the BS; and means for receiving a second UE capability inquiry message from the BS, indicating that only changed UE capability information is requested and that capability information for supported fallback carrier aggregation band combinations is requested; and means for sending at least a second UE capability information message to the BS in response to receiving the second UE capability inquiry message including a second set of UE capability information, wherein the second set of UE capability information comprises only UE capabilities that are changed from the first set of UE capability information and only the requested supported fallback carrier aggregation band combinations.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first set of capability information comprises all of the apparatus capabilities.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein at least one of: the first capability inquiry message or the second UE capability inquiry message indicates capabilities for which capability information is requested.
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising means for providing an indication that the second set of capability information does not include the one or more capabilities included in the first set of capability information.
 15. The apparatus claim 14, wherein the indication is provided in a container with the capability information.
 16. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising: means for sending a first user equipment (UE) capability inquiry message to a UE; means for receiving a first capability information message including a first set of capability information from the UE in response to sending the first UE capability inquiry message; means for sending a second UE capability inquiry message to the UE, indicating that only changed UE capability information is requested and that capability information for supported fallback carrier aggregation band combinations is requested; and means for receiving at least a second capability information message from the UE in response to sending the second UE capability inquiry message including a second set of capability information, wherein the second set of UE capability information comprises only UE capabilities that are changed from the first set of UE capability information and only the requested supported fallback carrier aggregation band combinations. 